From Waste to Value in Health Care
- Thomas F. Boat, MD;
- Samantha M. Chao, MPH;
- Paul H. O’Neill, MPA
- Author Affiliations: Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio (Dr Boat); Board on Health Care Services, Institute of Medicine, Washington, DC (Ms Chao); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Mr O’Neill).
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- COSTS AND COST ANALYSIS
- DELIVERY OF HEALTH CARE
- HEALTH POLICY
- HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
- QUALITY OF HEALTH CARE
- UNITED STATES
The United States ranks among the worst of industrialized countries for indicators of health such as infant mortality and life expectancy,1 despite spending $2 trillion annually on health care,2 more than any other nation per capita. However, higher health care spending does not correlate with higher quality of care or better patient outcomes.3,4,5 These sobering indicators suggest that an opportunity exists to close the value gap in the day-to-day delivery of health care by eliminating actions that impede optimal systematic performance, which result in less than perfect outcomes, extra work, or corrective work, otherwise described as waste.
Patient falls and decubitus ulcers represent waste in the form of “never events” that create more costs and result in systemic dissatisfaction. Waste is illegible and incomplete prescriptions that consume technician, nurse, and pharmacist time and, at worst, risk the life of the patient. Waste is …
